As Close As Family
by morning sunlight
Summary: Dean and Sam help an old friend who is in trouble. Story told & flashbacks recalled by Dean.
1. The Feeling

_**As close as family

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**_

**_Disclaimer_**

Nothing Supernatural is mine, I have borrowed for a while. I'll give them back now – apart from passing a little time with them, I have made no profit from this endeavour – so please don't come looking for me.

**_Summary_:** Dean and Sam help an old friend who is in trouble. Story told and flashbacks recalled by Dean.

**_Warning_:** Language, Violence in later chapters, references to apparent domestic abuse and to demon worship

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_**Chapter 1 – The Feeling.**_

It doesn't really happen that often and I've never tried to explain it to anyone before. It's not like with Sam. He gets real visions and sometimes we can do something about it. That's not what I get, it's more a feeling, a sensation that I need to be with someone, usually Sam. The first time was the night Mom died, but it's so long ago now I don't know whether I was heading for Mom or Sammy. Then on and off throughout my life, I've had it for both Sam and Dad. Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing I need to turn round and help them in a fight and then the last time I had it for Sam was the night Jess died. And it's only ever been them with one exception – Suzi.

That's what made it strange that day: I got Suzi's feeling. It was years and miles since I last saw her and nowhere near where we were then but driving through that town I definitely got Suzi's feeling and as we left town it got so much worse, I couldn't breathe. I pulled off at the side of the road. Sam was asleep – if I woke him what would I say? Makes the decision easy really, don't wake him but turn round and head back into town. We had passed a motel not too far back, we'd stop there. I'd make an excuse to Sam, we were both exhausted a night in a decent bed would do him good and I'd be able to go look for Suzi.

Sam woke up as soon as I turned off the engine in the motel car park – good job I hadn't turned it off when I was thinking at the side of the road otherwise the exhaustion ticket wouldn't have worked so well .

Settled into our room, I left Sam setting up the laptop and went out for a walk. It gave me the opportunity to stock up on supplies and have a look round the town. I'd no real idea where to start looking for Suzi. This is where Sam's visions would have come in handy, at least I'd have had more idea where to look and what I was getting into but even after all this time, I didn't know if I could even mention her name to Sam.

It didn't take long to re-stock the first aid kit and get some food to keep in the car for when we're travelling. I kept passing the same diner. I'd finished everything I needed to do and I was back outside the diner again. I figured that I may as well get something to eat.

I sat where I could see out the window. I looked at the menu and decided on something for me and some stuff to take back for Sam. I looked back out the window while I waited for a waitress, even the paper I'd brought couldn't hold my attention, the feeling was almost overwhelming.

'Right, what can I get you?'

It peaked, the feeling, I couldn't get my breath and as I looked, I couldn't believe what I was seeing, 'Suzi?'

'Dean?'

'You look…' but that one I couldn't finish. I was going to say all grown up, great or something like that but when I looked at her what came to mind was 'like shit'. 'What's happened to you?'

'I'm okay, Dean,' she looked over her shoulder, 'What can I get you? You here on your own? How's your Dad? What about Sammy? Is he still being a brat?'

I smiled at her, 'Aaah! You know Sammy so well. I'm with him, he's at the motel. I thought I'd get myself something to eat and take something back for him.'

She recommended a special for me and something else for Sam. I looked at her, a question without words. 'I've grown up now, Dean, it was a long time ago. I wouldn't suggest something he'd hate at least not until he's actually done something to rile me up anyway.'

'Sure, of course. You know, memories, stuff. I believe you, I do…' I smiled at her. What I wanted to do was grab her out of here and take her away, the same old feelings of needing to protect her but she's grown now, I could only do it if she let me. She looked like shit, it was an understatement in a way. She looked like she'd been beaten up, time and again. Bruises of different ages on one side of her face, fading black eye, split lip and a wrist strapped up and that's just what I could see.

I watched her as she moved round the diner. She reminded me of when we first knew her, then she changed, grew more confident became Suzi, the Suzi who would stand up to Sammy and get me to do whatever she wanted, not that she'd needed confidence to be able to do that to me. She was eight, Sammy was just coming up on nine when we first found her and I was thirteen. I'd not long turned fourteen when we left her. I don't think Sam has seen her since he was thirteen and I've not seen her in four years, she was 18 and just thinking of leaving school and moving on from the family she was living with, her family really or the only one that should have counted. Then she dropped off the map completely until today.

When we left her, she and I wrote, just birthdays, Christmas and the odd ones in between. Dad always found it funny, Sammy was disgusted. Over the years, her letter-writing got better. She'd tell me about school, friends and eventually boyfriends, which was fine until one of them was a bastard to her and I tried to convince Dad we had to go check on her. He tried to make me stop then, didn't want me involved anymore. He needn't have worried, she turned her back on me not long after.

The food looked good when she brought it, she kept Sam's in the kitchen keeping it warm until I was ready to go. I took hold of her hand as she put the plate down. 'You okay, kiddo?'

That smile was so sad, 'Fine Dean, I'm fine.'

'I can help.' I held her more tightly. She looked anxiously over her shoulder. 'The motel, we're in room 24.'

'Okay, Dean. Enjoy your meal,' and she turned her back on me and walked away. I didn't really taste the food, too busy thinking and watching her.

_It was just a job. Dad was hunting a demon. Not the demon, a demon and a minor one at that. But this demon, it had this bunch of creeps worshipping it. They were evil bastards, sick too and that was where Suzi came onto the scene. When we got there, she'd been beaten and tied to an altar where she was about to be sacrificed. Sammy was back at our hotel, safe, and Dad and I were taking out the demon and his followers. I found her, Dad was ready to go, he hadn't even looked at her. I never did work that out, whether he thought she was already dead, hadn't noticed her at all or had assumed they were sacrificing an animal. But something, some feeling, made me turn round for one more check that we really had finished the job. I saw her hand move and I ran across the clearing to the altar and began to cut her free. I remember vividly looking into her eyes and seeing as she looked back, the fear but no tears, past crying. She took hold of my hand. I tried to lift her down but couldn't quite manage it. Dad stepped up to her and she grabbed my arm harder, the fear turning to terror. 'It's okay, he's coming too.' He almost laughed._

_We sat in the back of the car and she gripped my arm tightly as Dad drove us back to the motel and Sammy. I helped her from the car to the room. She said nothing._

'_We need to clean her up,' Dad had said more or less as soon as we entered. She whimpered and held me tighter again. She was petrified whenever he approached her. 'You'll have to do it Dean. She's not going to let me near her.'_

_I remember the shock and embarrassment I felt. I mean she might be little, but she was a girl! The truth of it was she wasn't going to let me go so even if I didn't do it, I was going to have to be there, so I gritted my teeth and took her hand and led her into the bathroom. I ran a bath like I did for Sammy, checked it wasn't too hot and helped her get in. In honesty, apart from the obvious, it wasn't that much different to helping Sammy. I was shocked though by the bruises and cuts on her body. I helped Dad fight evil and I didn't have the scars she'd got. When she was out and dry, I checked all the cuts, covered some with antiseptic and dressed those that needed it before helping her pull on one of my bigger and baggier t-shirts._

_We'd heard raised voices while we were in there. She'd tensed, holding on to me again, but I'd told her not to worry. 'Just Dad and Sammy' I'd told her, 'Nothing to worry about, they shout but they don't mean it really.' I'd got no idea what Dad and Sammy were arguing about this time; homework, food, TV, what we were doing the next day. They were all possibilities. I found out soon enough though, when we came out. Dad's guilty look and the resentment in Sammy's face told me, today's problem was still holding very firmly onto my hand. I put her on my bed and flicked to the Cartoon channel on the TV. I remember telling her to stay there I was just going to grab a shower and headed back into the bathroom with some more clean clothes. God, did I have a shock when I was getting out of the shower and she was there waiting for me. I really was embarrassed then. I grabbed the towel and managed to get my clothes on without flashing her again. Then we went back into the main room. I could see her point, she didn't need to say anything: Dad had gone out and Sammy was glaring at her, his very best 'if looks could kill' glare.

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**Author's Note: Please review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will be posted shortly (hopefully tomorrow all being well) as it is already written and just undergoing final edits. **_


	2. Come on Sammy, be reasonable

_**As Close as Family

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**_

**_Disclaimer: _**see chapter 1

**_Summary: _**see chapter 1

**_Warnings/Ratings:_** see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note: _**The important bit I missed when I posted chapter 1 is my thanks to Rae Artemis who acted as beta/coach/advisor as needed to ensure that this story kept going and that I didn't lost heart part way through – poor girl has the patience of a saint when it comes to my writing. Thanks Rae A.

**_Author's Note 2: _**Reviews continue to be welcomed.

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_**Chapter 2 – Come on Sammy, be reasonable**_

I'd more or less finished the food in front of me although I hadn't really noticed it but I was no longer hungry. Suzi came to take the plate. 'Everything okay with that, sir?'

'Yes thank you.' The look I gave her was questioning.

'Right then. Will you be wanting anything else or shall I bring through your take-out order?'

'No, nothing else here, just the stuff to go, but could you put two coffees with it? Thanks.'

'Sure,' and away she walked as if we'd never met. I didn't need her to say anything out loud. I'd got the message. Whatever the problem was, it was in the diner now. I turned so I could look round casually as I waited. At first glance, no-one stood out as odd, a few people had left and new ones had taken their place but most of them were either chatting with friends or engrossed in eating. One or two were reading papers, then I saw him. Tucked away in the darkest corner of the diner, he was alone and he was watching Suzi with an intimidating level of concentration, possessive was only the start of it.

Then Suzi blocked my view of him before I could get a good enough look. I looked up at her. She gave me the check and a bag with Sammy's food in it. My eyes caught hers, she made sure our eyes were locked then lowered hers to the check. 'There you go, your check, sir.' I frowned; she looked at the check again. Not a word was spoken. I lowered my eyes to the check and saw there was a piece of paper folded with it. I opened the two together. Written on the paper were the words, 'Later. I promise. S x'

I folded the paper back up and put it in my pocket as I got my wallet out, paid and picked up the bag. 'Thanks,' I said as I walked out. You can't imagine how hard it was to walk away without looking back and without taking her with me. I promised silently that if she didn't come to the motel later, I would come back and get her. In the meantime, Sam needed to eat and I should probably try to prepare him for Suzi.

Amazingly, it appeared he'd been asleep when I let myself back into the room, although he'd woken with my key turning in the lock, 'Hey dude.'

'Yeah Sammy. I brought you some food.'

'Mmm, less of the Sammy, but that smells good. Where's yours?'

'I ate at the diner. This comes recommended – just for you.'

'For me? What do you mean?'

'Suzi.' It was out now. All I needed now was his reaction.

'Suzi,' Sam said quietly, 'What's in it?'

'It's fine, Sam. She's grown up now. She's past putting salt on your cereal and sugar on your fries. Trust me, she's got more on her mind than winding you up.'

'What's she doing here?'

'Working in the diner.'

'I didn't know you two were back in touch. When did that happen?'

'We weren't,' I left it at that.

'You expect me to believe you just bumped into her in some random diner in the middle of … Where are we exactly? You just pull off the road in some little town and you just meet Suzi. I find that hard to believe.'

'Look bro. I had no idea she was here until today. We were driving along. You were asleep. I was tired. I didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel and hurt my car so I pulled off at a motel. I went to restock the trunk's first aid kit and I stopped for food and there she was. Okay?' Well, I wasn't lying as such, just bending the truth.

'Yeah right,' and Sam wasn't buying it.

Well that went well. I turned my back and flopped on my bed. God! I really was tired. I could just close my eyes.

'Dean…Dean!' Nothing if not persistent our Sammy. I opened my eyes. 'The truth, Dean.'

'…is out there, Sammy. Now can I rest?'

'You could have told me you were coming to see her. Hell, you could have let me go see my friends, and we could have met up again afterwards.'

'Sammy.' He wore me out when he was in this whole 'dog with a bone' mood. 'We were driving. You were asleep. We came through this town. I decided to stop. I didn't know before then that Suzi was here. That is the truth,' and it is. Okay, I know I didn't mention the feeling but that didn't stop any of what I had said being the truth whatever Sam thought.

'Dean.' Disapproval, all I needed from Sam. 'Dean, you could have told me.'

'Told you what? I was tired. You know that, we both are. How many jobs have we done lately?'

'About Suzi.'

'I didn't know.'

'Why lie, Dean?'

I rolled over, raising myself up to look Sam straight in the eyes, all attempts at sleeping put aside for the moment, as I attempted to keep my temper in check. 'That is exactly my point. What do I stand to gain? Last time I heard from her she was still living with Max and Jason in Grant's Pass, Oregon. I didn't know she was in Missouri, let alone living in some town we were going to pass through.'

He paused, took a few bites of his dinner and nodded, 'She was right, this is good. Are you seeing her again?'

Grateful to move on, I nodded. 'Look, I really didn't know she was here, but I think she's in trouble and I've offered to help her.'

'She is.'

'What?'

'You're right, Dean. She is in trouble. You'll have to convince her to let you help. You know how stubborn she can be.'

'She wasn't that bad, Sam and look who's talking. You matched her and often outdid her, you know, when you were being awkward.'

'Well, like you said, she's grown up now and so have I.'

'You know she's in trouble. Why didn't you say anything?'

'I only felt it this afternoon when you were out. I would have told you.'

'Yeah, I know. I didn't mean that to sound so harsh. Sorry.'

'You've said a lot of stuff that's true, Dean and part of it was that you were tired. When are you meeting her and where? Back at the diner?'

'I…well… she didn't say when exactly and I think she's intending coming here. I guess I just wait and see for now.'

'What happened, Dean?'

'She's a mess and she's frightened. I saw some guy watching her. He looked rough and she wouldn't talk but she gave me this,' I passed the note over to Sam.

He nodded, 'Get some sleep dude. I'll wait up for her. You're exhausted; you'll be no good to anyone without some sleep.

'I guess.' I settled back and closed my eyes. Sam was right, I'd learnt that over the years, that no matter what I feel like, I'm more likely to be able to do something useful if I'm not absolutely exhausted and I pretty much was at that stage. I dreamt of when we were kids.

_Over the weeks, the bruises on her body faded and as they did she seemed to come to life. She seemed to know we weren't going to hurt her; she was less frightened of Dad, although she still preferred to be with me. The only person she really didn't get on with was Sammy. The two of them would hurt one another; push one another on stairs, kicks under the table, and all that sort of thing. She'd been with us a week and a half before she spoke and like Sammy when he was little, the first thing she said was my name. It was Dad who pointed it out but it was Sammy's reaction that indelibly marked the memory for me. An angry shout, 'It's not the same, she does it on purpose.' Dad laughed, Sammy stormed back to the car and Suzi pulled on my sleeve and said my name again. I turned from watching Sammy to her eyes._

'_Yeah?'_

'_Bathroom,' she almost whispered._

'_Sure, come on.' I nodded at Dad and took her off to find the ladies. I pushed her toward the bathroom, saying, 'I'll be here.'_

_She started to walk then turned back, and still in barely more than a whisper she said, 'Dean, you'll wait, promise?' Her eyes were huge and I could see the fear in them._

_I knelt down in front of her and looking straight into her eyes, I said, 'I'll be here, I promise.' She nodded and rushed in. I stood back up and leant against the wall waiting. _

_When she came back out, I saw the relief in her eyes as she saw me, 'You waited.'_

'_I promised.'_

'_Yeah.' She nodded, took my hand and started to walk towards the car._

_Sam was slouched in the front seat, pointedly not responding to Dad's attempt to reason with him. I remember thinking that I was the teenager, wasn't I supposed to be the awkward one? We stopped to let a couple of cars pass and on a whim, I knelt down next to her again, 'So you're talking now?' She nodded. 'Do you think you could tell me your name if we're going to be talking now?'_

'_Do I have to?'_

'_No. But then you'd know when I was talking to you.'_

_She seemed to ponder the idea before replying, 'Maybe later.'_

'_Okay. Come on, the others are waiting for us. Looks like you and me got the back seat again.'_

'_Yeah,' she said with a small shy smile._

_I remember that evening. We checked into a motel and Dad and Sammy went off to find something to eat. We sat down to watch cartoons. A couple of minutes passed and she moved from her bed to mine and curled into my side, 'Hey you.'_

'_Dean.'_

'_Uh-huh.'_

'_My name…' I waited for her to tell me. 'They…they called me Suzanne but...' I figured I could guess where she was going with this. 'I don't want to keep remembering what happened all the time.'_

_I pulled her tight and wiped away the lone tear which had rolled from her brimming eyes. 'Okay, well we could call you something different. How about Suzi?'_

_I remember the way she seemed to relax as she said, 'Yeah, Suzi's good.'_

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**_Author's Note: chapter 3 coming soon finally edits underway. Please review and let me know what you think._**


	3. Thinking back

_**As Close as Family

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**_

_**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1_

_**Summary : **see chapter 1_

_**Ratings/Warnings: **see Chapter 1_

_**Thanks to Rae Artemis : **see Chapter 2

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**_Chapter 3 – Thinking back_**

I woke with a start. 'Hey, I thought that was my trick,' said Sam, seeing me sit up abruptly.

'She's not here?'

'Not yet.'

'What time is it?'

Sam fumbled for his watch which he had taken off earlier when he grabbed a shower and had laid next to the laptop. 'Umm. Just after one.'

'You should sleep, Sam. I'll wait.' I rose and moved to sit by the window. He nodded but there was an odd look in his eyes. He moved to lie down.

All was quiet for ten minutes and I sat looking, no staring, out of the window, until Sam broke the silence, 'Dean when you go, don't just go off wandering. The diner and back, you won't find her by just walking round the town. I know I can't make you stay and wait here but I need to know where you are, that you're safe.' His eyes were bright and piercing in the light from the bedside lamp. I swallowed and nodded. 'Unless you want me to come too?' I shook my head and grabbed my jacket. 'Got your cell?'

'Yeah, don't worry.'

'Sure.'

I walked down deserted streets to the diner. This town really was the back of beyond. There was no-one around so it wasn't really a surprise to find the diner dark when I got there. I stood there, looking at the building, empty of the knowledge of what to do now. I'd got no idea how to find her. I walked slowly back to the motel. Only the one dim light was on in our room so I knew she hadn't arrived and I wandered over to the car. I got in, put the key in the ignition so I could turn on the music.

_We kept Suzi with us as we travelled for the rest of that year. In that time, she gradually came out of her shell. Over time the bruises went and she gradually changed from a silent waif to an increasingly confident chatterbox who would argue the odds with almost anyone. She and Sammy argued over everything from when they got up in the morning to when they were sent to bed and regularly had to be separated, particularly once Dad decided that she needed to learn some self-defence. She'd been picked on by some other kids at one of the motels we were staying at when she and Sammy were outside while I was sorting something for them to eat. By the time I had gone out to check on them, she was bruised, indignant and refusing to ever go and play outside unless I was there. I could see the worry in her eyes, concerned that it could happen again. Dad decided she should know how to take care of herself. Once started on the defence training, she had taken to it like the proverbial duck to water. It hadn't taken long for her to be able to take on Sammy. Sammy didn't like fighting, so while he knew what to do, he was a lazy fighter and looked for the easy way out, never putting his heart into it. At least he didn't until the first time Suzi trounced him. After that he focussed a whole hell of a lot more and more than once, Dad and I had to pull the two of them apart as what would start out as practise moves or sparring would turn into an all-out battle with no holds barred._

_They were fighting for attention. I knew that. My attention - I never did understand that. Were it Dad's attention, I could understand it but whilst Suzi always listened and followed Dad's instructions to the letter, she never actively sought him out. As for Sam, he'd learnt early on not to waste time waiting for Dad to notice something good, mind you, he also knew Dad would see the bad soon enough. Not that it would have done either of them any good. Dad hadn't changed, he still trained us when he had the time and left instructions for when he didn't, went off on hunts when he heard news of something and left me to look after them and try to keep them from killing each other. They fought for my attention, my approval but what I didn't know how to convey was that they both had it all. I would have done anything for either of them. Sammy, my brother entrusted to my care as a baby, had always been at the forefront of my priorities, my first and only consideration for the last eight years, and Suzi, retrieved from an altar, how could I not want to protect her from that?_

_In the end, I think that was why Dad decided to leave her. Having her and Sammy in the same room had eventually reached nightmare proportions, one of us always had to be there to keep them apart. And one of us meant me. There was no way I could go on hunts with Dad and leave them; they'd have murdered one another before we got back. So it was that we left her with an acquaintance of Pastor Jim's, who was able to find her a family to take her in. It was the best thing; it kept her safe and should have allowed her the normal life Sammy never got the chance to have until he went to Stanford. The best part was the couple she went to stay with Jason and his wife, Max, knew. They knew about her past and about what we did. They had experience of it but lived on the edge of it, they offered support to people like Dad and Caleb. After they took in Suzi, they even let us stay from time to time. They were good people._

Suddenly I caught sight of more lights going on in our motel room. I'd forgotten about Sammy. Looking at my watch, I realised I'd been sat in the car for at least three-quarters of an hour. There was still no sign of Suzi.

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**_Author's Note: Reviews gratefully received - please do let me know what you think._**


	4. Finding Suzi

_**As Close as Family

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**_

_**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1_

_**Summary: **see chapter 1_

_**Warnings/Rating : **see chapter 1_

_**Thanks again to Rae Artemis for her huge patience and great beta skills.**

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**_Chapter 4 – Finding Suzi_**

I rushed back to our room from the car. 'Sam, I'm sorry man. I lost track of the time. I was restless, figured if I sat in the car, listened to some music and kept an eye out for Suzi, I wouldn't disturb you too much.'

'Okay. It's fine. Just let me know huh! I was worried. No sign then?'

'No, town's deserted. Everywhere between here and the diner is locked up and dark, not a sign of anyone anywhere.'

'Just have to wait for now, unless you have any other ideas?'

'No. None.' Just then there was a tap on the door, I snatched it open, 'Thank god, kiddo… I was worried sick.' Grabbing her wrist firmly, I pulled her in through the door.

It was Sam who saw the grimace that passed over her face; I was too busy checking outside to see if she'd been followed. 'Dean, let go.' His eyes flicked from me to where I held her wrist. I flinched away, wanting to apologise, wanting to tell her I never meant to hurt her. She shook her head and looked down.

'Suzi? Come and sit down. Take the weight off. Can I look at that wrist for you?' he ushered her round to sit down without actually touching her.

'Sammy,' her voice was quiet, 'I'm sorry.'

'Hey Suzi, me too. I'm Sam now, all grown up. I won't kick you under the table anymore or not on purpose anyway. Long legs sometimes get in the way now.' He smiled at her gently, trying to ease the tension with a gentle joke as he knelt down beside her.

'Sam,' she nodded slowly, her voice tentative, 'Dean said it was okay to come?'

'Course it is. Do you want me to look at your arm?'

'I'm okay, it's fine.'

Sam rose and stepped back. 'Look I'll give you and Dean some time. I'll be back in a while. Dean, you need me, I've got my cell.'

'Sammy... Sam… don't… I'll…' She was like the frightened little girl we had first taken in again.

'Hey, no worries, Suzi, I'm not upset. You and me, we're gonna be just fine. You talk to Dean. We'll catch up later, it's all fine.' The nervous undertone to Sam's voice showed how worried he was that he was going to frighten her away.

She nodded but her eyes didn't lift from the floor. Sam looked for acknowledgement from me and then headed out taking the Impala keys with him. I closed the door behind him and turned back to Suzi. I hated the feelings it brought back, the feelings I remembered from when we were kids, anger, fear, powerlessness and pain that it was too late the damage already done. I moved to sit next to her.

'You okay?' I didn't get an answer straight off; she didn't even acknowledge the question at all. I put my arm around her shoulder gently pulling her in, I could feel the tension radiating from her. 'So…?'

'Dean…I…I'm in…It's just…' I waited but didn't let go, stroking her arm gently, just like we'd sat as kids. 'Dean, I've got myself into a mess. I don't know… I can't sort it out.'

'Ssh, we're here, we'll help.'

'He'll come looking for me. They'll want me to go back. I don't know how to get away. I don't know how they found me.'

'Found you? What do you mean found you?'

'It's like before. There's a demon, Dean.'

'Okay, okay, ssh. It'll be okay. Sam and I, we'll sort it. Don't worry. Now you are going to let me look at that arm.'

'Dean, why did you come? How did you know?'

'We didn't know but I'm glad we found you. I've missed you and your letters.'

'Yeah. I'm sorry. I thought I knew what I was doing. I thought I could handle myself when I left Jason and Max's. I thought I was all grown up,' the tears were flowing down her cheeks.

'Hey, we're all okay now. If you like, when this is over, we'll take you back to Jason's. I know they'd be happy to see you again.'

'I turned my back on them; they won't want to know me now.'

'Sure they will. Last time I spoke to them, they were worried about you. They'd want you to get back in touch. Now come on, let's see your arm. Then we'll get Sam back in and we'll decide how we're going to take this demon down. He's quite the exorcist now, our Sammy.'

For the first time, she lifted her head and looked at me, 'I messed up, Dean.'

'It doesn't matter. We're here to help now.'

She nodded sadly, 'I'm sorry'. I knelt in front of her and began to check her arm.

'It looks like it might be just a sprain. I'll wrap it for now and we'll keep an eye on it. If it feels any worse, we'll have to get it checked out at the hospital. Now let me see the rest of these.'

'No Dean.'

'No? Why not?'

'I'll be okay. You taught me how to look after them years ago. I still do what you told me. They're all clean.'

'You sure?'

'Yeah.' I couldn't tell whether she was telling me the truth or not, but now wasn't the time to push her.

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**_Author's Note: More soon I think (all being well - yesterday's chapter was late so two today!) Please review, it's good to know what people think. Next chapter is undergoing final edits._**


	5. Scooby Doo and Ancient History

_**As Close as Family

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**_

_**Disclaimer: **see chapter 1_

_**Summary: **see chapter 1_

_**Warnings/Ratings: **see Chapter 1

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_**Author's Note:** Thanks as ever to Rae Artemis for being a great beta and also for the title to this chapter.

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**_Chapter 5 – Scooby Doo and Ancient History_**

When Sam came back about an hour later, he smiled when he saw us, 'Just like old times, Dean.' nodding towards Suzi, curled up asleep leaning against me with Scooby Doo playing on the TV.

'There was nothing else on, and when she fell asleep, I couldn't reach to turn it off or over.'

'Yeah, 'cos you never watch this stuff when you're on your own. She okay?'

I shrugged, 'she will be, but we need to do some stuff before we move on.'

'She coming with?'

'I'd like to take her back to Jason's but I don't know if she'll agree to go back and it's up to you too really?'

'Me?'

'Do you mind?' I had to ask the question, just to be sure. Not that I could leave her, but Sam had to have the choice whether to be involved, it was only right.

'I want to help. I'm sorry about before. I was a brat.'

Even I could feel the smirk on my face as I replied, 'She said just that earlier. I'm glad you want to help now though.' She began to stir restlessly until I stroked her hair and soothed her back to sleep.

'Funny! So she say anything? What can we do?'

'There's a demon.'

'The same one?'

'No can't be. Dad and I finished it, no way was it coming back, but this one 'found' her apparently, so it knows she was involved. We need to see if there's anything odd going on around here.'

'Okay, I'll load up the laptop and start looking.'

'Nah! Leave it till the morning, rest now. Once we know what we're up against I want to move quickly and get away straight after. If we wait until she wakes up, she should be able to tell us enough to get us started.'

'True. She staying the night?'

'For now. I'm not going to wake her yet.'

'You okay? Manage there?'

'Very funny, Sam. She's fine.'

'A thought occurs.'

'Hmm.'

'When we were kids, how often did you get through the night without at least one of us climbing in with you?'

'I had a secret.'

'Oh yeah.'

'The nights you both climbed in, I used to wait until you were both asleep, then go and sleep for a few hours in your bed, making sure I was back between you before you woke up.'

'Seriously!'

'Yeah.'

'We'd have been pissed if we found out.'

'I knew that and so did Dad but he figured it was worth the risk. It was his idea. There were a couple of weeks where every night both of you climbed in with me. I was getting next to no sleep between the two of you snuggling and kicking in your sleep. I was grouchy and Dad was annoyed because I wasn't on form when we were training – I was getting continually slower on my run, struggling to hit a barn wall, let alone a target pinned to one so he came up with a plan. We'd wait until the two of you were asleep, then he'd help me climb out from between you. I'd crash in your bed, then when he got up in the morning, he'd wake me first and we alternated between me climbing back between you and him 'waking' one of you first while I pretended to still be asleep and me having a shower and coming out to wake you both up as if I'd just got out from between you.

'I never knew! How long did that last?' I could hear the laughing astonishment in his voice.

'Until you stopped both climbing in. It was okay when it was just one of you there. There was enough room in a queen for me and one of you.'

'You never complained about either of us. Looking after us when Dad was gone can't have been easy.'

'I do remember wishing Dad had never taught her how to fight properly because I got more bruises trying to separate the two of you than I did from my own sparring. Mind you, it improved your skills no end.'

'Too right. I hated all that practise and sparring and everything. Then she came along and lapped it all up. Do you remember the day she first beat me?'

'Sam, I remember the month she first beat you. You totally lost it afterwards. You were absolutely unbearable for weeks after that. You practised a hell of a lot more though.'

'Yeah, sorry about that! I remember that I was foul and she did nothing but gloat.'

'True. It didn't help. But you were asking for it.'

'I'm sorry about that, I was a real bitch about it, Sammy, I mean Sam.'

'Hey, you're awake.' Sam smiled at her apology as he spoke.

'Yeah.'

'And no worries. I think Dean and I have already established I deserved it.'

'So kiddo,' I waited until she shifted position and looked at me. 'Are you going to tell us about what you've been up to and about this demon?'

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**_Author's Note: Please review, let me know if it's okay, next chapter almost ready to go, in which Suzi tells us what's been happening... All being well, it will be up tomorrow._**


	6. Suzi's Story

**_As Close as Family

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_**

**_Disclaimer: _**_see chapter 1 _

**_Summary: _**_see chapter 1_

**_Warnings/Ratings: _**_see Chapter 1 _

**_Important Author's Note:_**_ Thanks as ever to Rae Artemis for being a great beta.

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_

**_Chapter 6 – Suzi's story_**

'When I left Jason and Max's, I was going out with this guy, Liam. He was a loser. I knew it but I fell for his line about loving me and left with him. Max tried to talk me into not rushing but I wouldn't listen to her. Anyway, I got to know these people through him. We were having fun, hanging out, I was swept along with it all, I dropped out of College and just hung with them.

Well I woke up one day, and he'd gone. I didn't know what to do, he'd taken everything – the bit of money I'd got, my jewellery, anything he thought he could sell. Most of his buddies had gone too. There was just this one guy who turned up; he'd been kind of on the edge of the group if you know what I mean. His name was Callan; he seemed like a real sweetie to start with. Nothing was too much for him. I'd got nothing, no money, nowhere to live, the only friends I'd thought I had had vanished with Liam and Callan took me in and offered me support and friendship. I couldn't believe my luck.

He talked me into coming out here with him for a fresh start, said he had family and they needed him, but that it would be fine for me to come too. Everyone would be more than happy for me to be here. I could be part of something good he said. I missed Max and Jason and figured maybe if I sorted out here, I'd find that sort of life again and that if things worked out, I could get back in touch with them. I didn't want them to know what a mess I'd made of my life. Look at me now. I thought I'd fucked up then, now look; I'm back where I started. You should have left me there Dean, I've thrown away all the opportunities I got because of you saving me.'

I wished I could take the pain away from her, instead I encouraged her to continue 'It'll be okay. Tell us what happened.'

'We got out here and it was all a bit odd but everyone was nice enough. I just figured it was small town U.S.A. We stayed in some odd towns when we were kids didn't we?'

'Yeah, we did, there's plenty of them,' said Sam, who was, by then, sitting on the edge of the other bed. He gave her a warm smile, genuine. She returned his smile, it was sad but it too came from the heart.

'I was wrong though. It was more than just an odd town. There was something really off but by the time I realised I was stuck here. See most of the people here are fine, they're good decent people, they close their eyes to what's going on around them but they don't do anyone any harm, but the rest, they're all worshipping this demon and everything. Dean, it's just like I remember with… when you got me. Well, I tried to get away, Callan, he lost his temper and well you can see where that gets me...' she gestured vaguely at her arm and face.

'How long has it been like this?' _Why did I need to know the answer?_ She shook her head. 'Tell me,' I gently brought her face to look at me but her eyes just roamed the room, refusing eye contact, 'Suzi?'

'It doesn't matter.'

'I want to know, Suzi. How long?'

'Dean, let it go.' Sam's voice was firm, unrelenting.

'No, I want to know. Suzi, how long has this been going on?' I knew they thought I was being a bastard, that I should have let it go, but I needed to know, because by god and all his angels, Callan was going to pay for every minute he had treated her like that, every bruise on her body.

'So tell us about the demon,' Suzi's eyes flicked to Sam, she nodded. They ignored me, my demand. I bit my tongue, it wasn't about me, what I wanted, it was about saving Suzi.

'Yeah. At first, Callan kept me at the house, I never went anywhere, and the only people I saw were the people who visited the house. He was going out but he'd leave me there. He used to lock me into this room before he left. I thought about leaving, but I'd got nothing, not a dime, I couldn't afford a phone call, let alone a bus fare. One day, I decided enough was enough; I was going if I had to walk forever, I wasn't going to stay any longer, he went out and I picked the lock on the door and set off. Except he hadn't gone out, he was waiting for me. I was truly frightened that night; I honestly thought he was going to kill me when he lost his temper. It was a couple of weeks before I could walk again, let alone think about running away. From then on, when he locked me in, he chained me up as well. So when Callan started to take me with him, I was just relieved, I hadn't been out at all for what felt like months. It was good to be out, to see new people. It seemed like they were just hanging you know. They'd go out to this clearing, big fire, beers, drugs and they'd shoot some rabbits and stuff. They'd eat some of them and lay others out on an altar but it was like it was a joke not like they actually meant anything by it. But over the months, it became more of a ritual, the sacrifices got more numerous, bigger and more frequent. I thought I was going nuts. I thought I was imagining it was happening because how else could I have been so stupid to have ended up back in the same situation. Surely I should have recognised the signs earlier. Not just been sucked back in like an idiot.

Then I met her, Leanne. She'd been brought in by Callan's buddy Luke. She was really quiet and nervous. I couldn't see what she was doing with a guy like Luke. I got talking to her one day. Callan and Luke had gone out of town – we were at one of those gatherings with someone else watching over us. They weren't watching as closely as Callan and Luke did, but they were too observant for us to get away but didn't stop us talking. Callan was away 'On business' he told me and I didn't know better then. I tried to warn Leanne, tell her to get out, get away before it was too late. Her answer just made me go cold; she said it was already too late. They'd come to find her as soon as she left her Dad's and moved in with friends. Then she said of course Jefferson wasn't her real Dad, but he'd taken her in after Bobby had found her and rescued her from being sacrificed when she was a child.'

'Fuck,' it was out of my mouth before I knew it.

'No.' Sam's voice is filled with just as much horror.

'Well, when Callan and Luke got back that night, they had another girl with them. Her name was Selena. She was a pretty little waif like thing.'

'Caleb found her.' I couldn't believe what I was saying even though I knew I was right.

'What did you say Dean?'

'Caleb found her, Selena. It was a few months before we found Suzi.'

Suzi continued, 'That's right. It was her. She'd just left home and gone off to college too.'

'When we found you, there had been a spate of demon activity all over the country and young girls being used as sacrifices. It's one of the reasons I think Dad kept you with us for so long. There was more than just the three of you, Bobby found more than just Leanne, other hunters found girls too, I don't know how many altogether. Pastor Jim and his friends were trying to find safe homes for all the girls who had been rescued, but it was difficult to do it quickly and properly. Dad already had two kids, a third wouldn't have looked out of place, he was used to coping whereas guys like Bobby and Caleb, they're single guys, it would have been harder to explain them travelling with a young girl, nobody wanted anyone poking around and prying. And anyway it wasn't like they knew how to look after kids or wanted their lifestyles to change. They figured the girls would be safer with families.'

'I didn't know anything about it.'

'No Sam. I only knew bits about the girls, stuff I put together from overheard conversations, Dad never really said anything to me, but I heard him talking with Bobby and Pastor Jim about other girls, other demons doing the same as we'd seen with Suzi. In all the cases that I knew of though the demons were sent back to hell as a permanent fixture. So what's happening now?

'I think it's a different demon, but it somehow knows what happened before. It's collecting the girls up or rather it's got its followers doing it.'

'Where are Leanne and Selena?'

'Selena's dead, Leanne's at Luke's.

'Dead? By…'

'They sacrificed her. They said they were going to do it in the order we were to be sacrificed originally. It's why there's only Selena gone so far.'

'What do you mean?'

'Callan and Luke left tonight. They're going after the girl who's next, but I don't know what her name is or where she lives. I don't think she lives far away though, they're intending being back here with her before tomorrow night. That's when they're going to...' she paused, closed her eyes, unable to continue for the moment. I rested my hand on her shoulder. She re-opened her eyes and continued, 'There's been some sort of problem, I don't know what exactly, maybe she didn't leave home like the rest of us who are here. They picked us up not long after we each moved away from home.'

'Right we need to get started, Sam, I need you to make a phone call to Pastor Jim. Suzi and I are going to work out how many girls are already here and how we can collect them up and get them out safely. Then we need to work out how to take the demon down.'

I only just caught the sound of her barely whispered, 'If we can.'

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_**Another Author's Note: **See now, I'm hoping people are interested. I know chapters 1 and 2 went down okay, but have I 'lost the plot' since, literally or figuratively! I'd love to know what you think. Good wishes to all. Morning Sunlight_


	7. Planning it out

**_As Close as Family

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_**

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**_Disclaimer: _**see chapter 1

**_Summary: _** see chapter 1

**_Warnings/Ratings:_** see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note: _**My thanks as always to Rae Artemis who acted as beta/coach/advisor as needed.

**_Author's Note 2: _**Reviews continue to be welcomed.

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**_Chapter 7 – Planning it out_**

'Okay, what do you want to know from the Pastor?' Sam's already picked up both cell phones.

'We need to know firstly how many girls there were, their names and where they are now and as near as he can the order they were rescued. After that, you need to tell him to get onto the families of all the girls and the hunters who found them. We need to make sure that any who haven't been found or taken yet are kept safe. Then we need to know any hunters who are near here and could get to us quickly to help us take this demon out and get the girls away. This is too big for just us.'

'I'll call Dad too.'

'Fine, for what it's worth, do it. Don't expect anything though; we've not had much luck getting any answers from him lately.' I wished it were different, I wished I could have enough faith in Dad that he would come for Suzi. I had always believed that we had saved her, that she was safe from this life in a way I'd never been able to do for Sam. But Dad… well, he didn't return calls when I was on my own, he didn't come for Sam when Jess died, he didn't come when we were in Lawrence. He didn't return Sam's call when I almost died. He just sends co-ordinates. If he wouldn't come for Sam and me, somehow, I couldn't believe that he would come for Suzi either.

'Dean…maybe this time… it's worth a try…'

'Yeah, you're right; it's worth a try… Go, Sam, we haven't got time to waste talking about whether he'll answer or not. There are too many girls' lives at stake here for us to debate.' If Sam could believe it, Sam who had never expected the best of Dad, the least I could do was agree with him. Sometimes, even though I have always followed his orders as if they are law, I doubt he's doing the right thing, I have only ever needed to look at Sam to know that sometimes Dad gets it wrong.

'Yeah right,' Sam walked outside with the phones.

I grabbed the map I'd picked up earlier from the motel office, showing the town and its immediate area. 'Where's the clearing?'

Suzi and I sat, poring over the map, marking the clearing, where the girls she knew about were living and making lists of who they were, who they were with and any other information she had managed to glean from the girls she had spoken to.

'There are some other girls, I know their names but I've never got to know much more than that, some of them seem to be really into it you know, so maybe they're not like, maybe they're here by choice…'

'Maybe… maybe not…' I'd got no idea, but I did know that people react differently to situations; maybe some of these girls hadn't been able to deal with what happened as well as our Suzi and so maybe they had gone back. If we'd got the choice I wanted to try and get them out but we'd have to see. Suzi and the girls who wanted out were the biggest priority. I wasn't willing to risk their safety for someone who was going to fight being rescued.

I looked down at the pages of notes I'd made as we talked, 'You've done well, Suzi Q.'

She nudged me in the ribs, gently with her elbow, 'You used to call me that.'

'And you used to hit me a whole lot harder when I did.'

'Yeah, funny that. I used to hate it, now I kind of like it when you do it. It brings back good memories.'

Sam came back in. 'I got through to Pastor Jim. He's emailing me all the details he can find. He's spoken to Bobby, who's only a few hours' drive from here, he's already set off but he's going to call you for directions when he gets a bit nearer. Caleb is too far away but called to say he was trying to get through to Jordan. He thinks he's nearer to us, but doesn't know what he's doing, whether he can get away.'

'Anyone else?'

'Pastor Jim's still trying. He said he'll get in touch if he gets anyone else, but not to hold out much hope, we're not exactly close to any known major action here. Just goes to show 'cos this seems fairly major to me but no-one seems to have picked up on it so far.'

'And Dad?'

'Nothing.'

'Thought not.'

'Dean, where's your Dad?'

'Hunting.'

'Hunting?'

'Yeah, we don't hear from him so much, now, unless he wants us to do something. Guess he figures we're old enough to manage without him. Okay, right Sam, we're going to need another car or preferably something bigger. We've got to get as many of these girls as we can and much as I love her, the Impala just isn't big enough.'

'Luke's got a suburban'

'I thought you said he was out of town?'

'He is but they went in Callan's truck.'

'Sounds good.'

'I could call Leanne; see if she could bring it down here.' Sam handed her his phone. She moved to the other side of the room to make the call and I started on filling Sam in on what I'd found so far and how I thought we could go.

As she hung up the phone, Suzi started, 'She says the truck's there but he took the keys with him. I said that wasn't a problem. I mean it isn't, is it? You still…'

'I do indeed, not so often now I've got the Impala, but it's like riding a bike, once learnt, you never forget how. Anyway, Sam knows too and he's done it more recently.'

'You! You always threatened to tell on Dean for doing it when he… When did you learn how?' she actually sounded really shocked.

'I know what I said, but he used to do it just because he was bored, or worse because you were bored, not because he needed to. I've only ever done it when I've really needed to.' Ever on the defensive was our Sam.

'Justifying something there Sam?'

'When did you learn then, Sam?' There is a glimmer of the old Suzi, in the curiosity that has been piqued by the knowledge of Sam's misdemeanours.

'Dean taught me about a year or so after we left you.'

'Why did you go through with it?'

'Another time, huh?' I just knew he'd want out of the conversation and there was no way I was going to let him off that easily.

'Oh no, Sam I like it when you tell this story. You go ahead. We can't do anything more until we hear from Bobby and Jordan. We should get comfortable, Suzi Q, it's a great story.' I settled back on the bed, leaning against the wall, leaving enough room for Suzi if she wanted.

She moved up next to me, saying 'Come on then Sam. Dish it.'

'I remember now why I used to hate you two so much when you were together.'

'We didn't need to be together, dude,' He smiled and acknowledged the truth in my comment. 'Brat!'

Sam's ever gracious in defeat, 'Yeah well. The story then. Dad was away, hunting as ever, and he'd left us in some motel. Dean was being a bitch as always and was hassling me about god knows what, so I said I was going for a run. I headed off into the woods and figured I'd just hang out you know. Anyway, I climbed this tree and just sat for a while. The next thing I know, Dean's tramping through the woods, shouting insults.'

'The next thing he knows… what he has not told you at this point babe, is the next thing was more than two hours later and I was well pissed. This is Sammy, we're talking about no way would he spend two hours running, I thought he'd got into some sort of trouble and couldn't get home.'

'Okay Dean, so I lost track of time a little,' Suzi and I both laughed at that description. 'Anyway, so he's calling me all these insults and I just saw red, so as he walked under the tree, I kind of dropped out of it to surprise him.'

'Landed on me and broke my arm is what he did. That's one hell of a surprise in my book.'

'Dean, you were always saying what a great hunter you were and how nothing could get the drop on you.'

'I wasn't _hunting_, dude. I was looking for my kid brother who I thought had maybe fallen and sprained his ankle and couldn't get home. Last time I checked the Big Brother guide to looking after pain-in-the-ass little brothers, they do not fall upwards into trees when injured. I had no reason to be looking upwards for you.'

'So the car?'

'Yeah, well he was bitching about how much his arm hurt and I had to get him to hospital.'

'Bitching? Dude, the bone came through!'

'Quit whining, Dean. So I knew I had to get him to the hospital. It was horrible and he was next to useless, could barely stand up and you know what he's like when he leans on you, dead weight! Anyway before I could take him to the hospital, we needed to go to the Motel first to pick up the ID that said he was old enough, that we didn't need Dad there, so I couldn't call an ambulance. So we were passing this car on our way back to the motel and I took it to get him there faster – he's such a wuss, he'd gone all green and pasty looking, I was seriously expecting him to pass out or something.'

'So you just took it, just like that?' she sounded incredulous.

'Not quite, he had to talk me through it. I played along, helped keep him focussed and stopped him just giving up.'

'See, it's a good story, but he always misses out the bit where he couldn't do it and despite my broken arm I had to help him out! We'd have been there all year if we'd left it all to our Sam. Anyway afterwards, I convinced him he needed to practise because we couldn't keep hanging around like that in times of emergency. What did he think he would do if he'd knocked me out rather than just broken my arm?'

'What did your Dad say?'

'Nothing, I told him I fell running, landing badly. He put me through weeks of torture once it was healed – how to fall without breaking anything important. Can you believe it? The things I've done for you, bro.'

'Yeah, thanks for that one.' Sam smirked at that.

'You owe me.'

'I owe you for more than just that Dean, if you're really counting and some things I owe you for aren't pleasant.'

'The Nair.' She sounded smug as she said that.

'You know about that?' Poor old Sammy always did assume that I wouldn't have told anyone.

'Dean wrote me.'

'Dean you're a real bitch! You know that.'

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**_So is it any good? Let me know with a review. Thanks for reading._**


	8. Preparing for the task at hand

**_As Close As Family_**

**_

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Disclaimer: see chapter 1_**

**_Summary: _** see chapter 1

**_Warnings/Ratings:_** see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note: T_**hanks to Rae Artemis who is a great beta as always.

**_Author's Note 2: _**As well as Dean and Sam I have borrowed Bobby for a while along with references to John, Pastor Jim and Caleb but the rest of them are mine. Reviews continue to be welcomed.

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**_Chapter 8 – Preparing for the task at hand_**

Prepped and ready to go. I just wished I felt better about it. There's too much at stake for it to be allowed to go wrong.

Jordan got to us first at about 5 in the morning. Never someone I'd known well, our paths hadn't crossed much, he'd always seemed easy to get on with, although Dad used to describe him as 'one to watch' with a distinctly pejorative tone. He was tall enough; he had a fraction on me, and a smile that put people at ease. He was a head turner, the kind of guy you'd walk into a bar with and all the girls would turn to look at him. I mean I can do it but this guy doesn't even need to try. Beach bum blonde hair, long enough too – it was almost as long as Sam's. He looked like a surfer dude with a tan to match. He entered loud and brash, centre of attention, once he'd sucked you in, he'd get his focus, step back, listen, take in all the information we'd accumulated, chip in when he'd got something to say. When it came to the job, he didn't brag or grandstand, he assumed you knew he was good. When he said something, it was worth listening carefully. I finished up telling him everything we've found out and our outline plan, he nodded his approval.

'So you found out about this today.'

'This evening, yeah.'

'You've done well. That's a hell of a lot of information to accumulate so quickly. Good work.'

A look passed between Sam and me, praise; not something we've ever been really used to receiving. Sam said, 'Suzi provided a lot of the information about here and the Pastor was able to shed light on a lot of the background.'

'Yeah, but it's you two who pieced it together and made the plan of action. We can work with this. You,' his gaze moved to Suzi. 'You're more observant than most. You're the girl they placed last. You were with Jason, weren't you?' She nodded. 'You spent time with this pair and John before you went there.'

'Yeah about a year.' Suzi stayedquiet so Sam answered Jordan.

'Figures. If I know John Winchester, he'd have had you training with the boys. 'Eyes open', 'Suck it up', 'The devil is in the detail.'' He even sounded like Dad, we laughed. It was funny but it also brought home the pain of knowing that Dad wasn't with us, wasn't coming, hell, he wouldn't even return the call. The pain was only aggravated by his next question, 'so when's Daddy Winch getting here then, boys?'

Sam was silent this time, left it to me to answer. 'We're not expecting him.'

'You're not?'

'Couldn't get him. Figure maybe his cell's off, stake-out, whatever…' I tried to make it sound nonchalant, after all it was no big deal, Sam and I have been getting used to Dad not listening when we call.

'He don't wanna be found. I'm sorry boys, but your father is a single-minded stubborn son of a bitch when he puts his mind to it. Don't know how you put up with him all these years. I mean he knows his stuff but he's not an easy man to get along with for any great length of time.'

'Could be right.' Only a small part of me felt disloyal, because in truth, Jordan's description was accurate.

When Bobby arrived, he looked through the plans. It was a relief when he nodded and said 'OK. Just a couple of things if you're willing to listen.'

'Willing to listen, of course, we are. Whatever you think.'

'Oh no you don't, boy. This is your gig, we're helping,' he indicated both himself and Jordan,' but it remains **_your_** job. All I've got is some extra ideas; I'm not taking over here just pitching in. We're the extra bodies to carry through. Now as I was saying, I've got rid of a few demons in my time, I think…'

The older man was in his element talking about exorcisms and the problems associated with the different types. His grizzled face was animated as he described in lurid detail the exorcism he figured we should use and what we would need to do to make it work. It would take some setting up. It would also mean we had to wait until the group were gathered in the clearing rather than trying to rescue the girls from their 'homes'.

'So Leanne's here?'

'Yes.'

'Is she okay?'

He was a gruff man, but Bobby was the type to be concerned for those he helped. Once you got under the old man's skin, you'd stay there. 'It's been a while, it'll be good to see her again and Danny.'

'Danny, there's no Danny.' Suzi was certain.

'There will be. That's who they've gone for tonight. She was the second.'

Sam elaborated, 'We didn't know, Jim said he'd work it out for us but he hasn't called back yet.'

'No need, well, we'll need what he can tell us about the rest but Danny was second.'

'She was one of yours' I already know the answer; this whole gig is just getting way too personal.

'She is one of mine – she ain't dead yet. A lovely girl, long blonde hair, straight, a big laughing smile, affectionate and a bundle of mischief. The folks who took her in had a hard time keeping up with her. She was a proper firecracker, quick to spark but underneath she was a real homebody. That's what's held your guys up. She lives at home, no sign of her leaving.'

'So what do we do now?'

Bobby's face was grim as he answered, 'They'll be back before tonight with her. They've got her.'

It was Sam who asked, 'How?' but we were all waiting for the response.

'A couple of months back, she made some new friends. They'd been hanging out and everything was fine. I spoke to her folks on the way here they told me everything that's been going on with her. The new friends, they'd talked her into going on a camping trip. It'll be them or someone working with them, it's too much of a coincidence otherwise. Anyway, I promised I'd bring her back safe. It's up to you to make sure I keep that promise.'

'So we all know what we need to do.' Jordan's voice was relaxed. 'We should head out, start getting ready.'

'Yeah, Sam, you got the paper? Anything happens to me, you do it. Your brother's Latin was never as good as yours and Jordan's really doesn't bear mentioning.' Bobby's comment was met with a laugh and a slap on the back from Jordan.

'I have other talents, old man.'

'Fortunately, otherwise it wouldn't be worth letting you tag along, boy.'

'Ha!'

'So little girl, you know your part?' Bobby's look at Suzi pinned her in place until she nodded but stayed silent.

I sat next to her; I could see the tension was back, fear tightening her frown. 'We'll be there kiddo.' She nodded again. 'Sam will follow you home; we're going to set everything up at the clearing. There'll be one of us near you all day, don't worry, we'll make sure you're okay?'

'And you?'

'We'll be fine too. Now come on, we're nearly there now. It won't be long and we can go home.'

'Yes. Home.' She moved to the door. Just before she left, she turned 'Thank you Jordan, Bobby. Sam,' she took his hand in hers, 'We're okay now, aren't we?' He nodded putting his other hand over hers and squeezing gently, 'good. Later Dean.'

'Later Suzi Q.' She gives me one last tentative smile and leaves. Sam watched from the window and just before she was out of sight, he left too. 'Good Luck, Sammy,' I say as he went.

'We should go now too, make sure everything's set.' Bobby was trying to distract everyone from the sombre feeling that had settled over the room. It was no good focussing on that, we needed to be positive.

'Yeah, let's be bad guys.' I looked sharply round at Jordan, 'Hey I'm only kidding. We're the good guys I know.'

'Just surprised me is all.'

'You recognise it. Ha! Who'd have guessed one of Johnny's boys…?'

'Yeah, alright Jordan. It's only one of us and that'll do. Do you tell everyone?'

'No, but a man needs a hobby, something to do in his downtime.'

'Exactly. So we're shiny then.'

He laughed and clapped me on the back. 'Very good, come on. Work awaits dude.' Bobby shook his head, the intricacies of the conversation having gone over his head, but he moved past and to his truck. We each made our own way up to the clearing, hiding the vehicles in different spots. It didn't take us long to set up our positions.

* * *


	9. Getting too much, can't breathe

**_As Close as Family _**

**_

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Disclaimer: see chapter 1 _**

**_Summary: _**see chapter 1

**_Warnings/Ratings:_** see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note: _**Thanks as ever to Rae Artemis who made me stick with the story even when times got hard and the muses went away.

**_Author's Note 2: _**Reviews continue to be welcomed.

**_

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_**

**_Chapter 9 – Getting too much, can't breathe_**

The day passed, one of us always had Suzi in sight. She went home with Sam following her. Then when the time for her shift came, she headed down to work. Over the next few hours, one of us was always in there keeping an eye on her. The rest of the time, one of us watched the clearing and the others took a turn at resting. I couldn't. I couldn't stop. I wanted to just grab the girls, as many as we could find, and run, forget the demon but get Suzi away somewhere safe and then, **_then_** we'd come back and waste it. Couldn't do that though, let emotion get in the way like that, cloud my judgement. Getting the girls away wasn't an option, if we did that, they'd know we were on to them, they'd get out and the girls would never be safe again, so instead we had to wait it out. The day dragged by unbearably.

'Dean' I pushed myself off the wall I'd been leaning against and looked at Sam. 'Come on back to the motel, you've got an hour until you take over from Bobby in the diner and Jordan's up at the clearing. You can't stand here that long, people are going to be looking at you man.'

He was right and I knew it. Didn't make it any easier to accept though.

'Dean, come on.' He pulled on my arm turning me to face the direction of the motel and I started to walk. I just wanted to shut my mind off for a bit, it was playing out the plan over and over and each time something else went wrong.

It took no time to get back to the motel and Sam unlocked the door. Without him by my side, my momentum gave up and I just stopped. He was inside the room and sat down before he realised I wasn't with him. He came back, 'Come on Dean.' I could hear him but his words were lost in a welter of thoughts and feelings that were overwhelming me, they were rising up. I felt like I was drowning, the world was fine, everyone else was fine and I was stood there in the car park of a motel drowning, couldn't anybody tell, couldn't they see what was happening.

'Dean, come on, come inside.' Sam took my arm to pull me inside, but it felt like an electric shock grounding through me. I could hear him but I could hear me too shouting inside, I could hear my breath, short, fast, racing in and out but I couldn't feel the oxygen reaching my lungs. I was drowning in front of Sam.

'Dean breathe, slow, in and out, in…out… come on bro. It's alright; calm down, everything's fine.' He said it over and over again. I watched his lips move, heard the words through the fog that has settled over me. I focussed on Sam, on breathing in and breathing out, on Sam's words. The fog began to clear.

'Sammy?'

'Yeah, Dean. You okay?'

'Sammy?' I could hear my voice, but it didn't sound like mine.

'Dean, it's okay, just give it a minute. Then you can tell me what that was all about.'

I closed my eyes; I concentrated on breathing, on listening to Sam move around the room and on not letting myself think. I heard the other chair move and the sound of Sam settling into it. 'Dean come on, open your eyes, you've got to talk to me, man. You've got to sort this or you're not going to be any use to us tonight.'

'Sam, what…what if it all goes wrong? What if the girl, Danny, gets hurt? What if I… if we don't protect Suzi well enough?'

'Dean, stop. The plan is sorted now, we've just got to hope everything's fine.'

'No!'

'Dean. What's the matter?'

'The plan's not enough, it's **not** good enough, Sam. Bobby should have told us what to do. What was I thinking? Dad would have known better…'

'Better than what?'

'Better than to let me think I could come up with a plan for something this big. There's too much riding on this. What if it goes wrong Sam?'

'Dean, listen to me. The plan is fine. I've looked at it. Jordan and Bobby, we've all looked, we've all added to it – it's our plan, not just yours and it's the best we can come up with, with just four of us to carry it out. Everything will be fine, but you Dean, you need to hold on, get your act together. You can't lose it like this.'

'Sam, I just keep seeing all the things that could go wrong.'

'Dean, what would we do if this was any other job?' I recognised them, my own words thrown back at me, but he was right. Any other job. I needed to focus.

'So you okay now?' I nodded. 'Dean have you had any rest at all?'

'It's not like I've been doing much since we finished setting up this morning.' I knew what he was thinking, I knew what I'd be thinking if our roles were reversed, but I was okay. I'd got the fear and panic clamped back down. It would be fine, I kept telling myself, fine. Okay so not quite clamped but not so wild, and I was working on it. I just needed to make sure I didn't think too hard.

'Sit down on the bed and relax.'

'I'm not going to sleep.'

'You can bet your ass you're not. There isn't time now unless you want me to go take over at the diner and you follow Suzi later.'

'No! …We'll stick with what everyone knows.'

'Right. Good but no sleep, no time, just take the weight off of your feet and watch a bit of TV until it's time to go. It's not long now. Just take your mind off tonight for a bit okay.'

Sam was right, I watched half heartedly, no idea what was on, what it was about, but it was enough to stop me thinking for a bit. As the programme finished, I stood up and got ready to move out and head back to the diner. As I reached the door, I turned and looked at where Sam still lay on the other bed, 'Later Sam.'

'Dean,' I waited, 'No point in my saying don't worry, 'cos you will anyway but it will be okay. Suzi will be okay.' I half wanted him to tell me he'd 'seen' it but I wouldn't have believed him, Sam's visions don't work that way.

'I hope you're right, Sam. I hope you're right.'

* * *


	10. Just wait a while

_**As Close as Family

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**_

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_**Disclaimer: **_see chapter 1

_**Summary: **_ see chapter 1

_**Warnings/Ratings:**_ see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note:_****__**My thanks to Rae Artemis who is a great beta.

_**Author's Note 2: **_Reviews continue to be welcomed.

* * *

**_Chapter 10 – Just wait a while_**

By the time I got to the diner, I was focussed. Unnecessary emotions, feelings, whatever, all clamped down and put out of the way where they belong. No wasted energy.

I found a table with a good view of everyone in the diner, the door and the kitchen and I sat down. Bobby was just paying and gathering his stuff ready to go. Mine was the last shift. I wouldn't leave until Suzi'd gone and Sam would be following her again. I'd be heading back to the motel for the Impala and from there up to the clearing.

I could watch Suzi as she worked; seeing her, knowing she was still okay helped me calm down too. I was served by another waitress whose name badge said 'Mandy'. I figured it was probably for the best, no chance to slip up and seem too familiar with our Suzi.

He came in, I saw him from the moment the door opened. I got a good look, made sure I had memorised his face because I was definitely going to make him pay for what he'd done. I could almost picture his face after I was going to be through punching it.

He sat down in the same place as yesterday. Suzi almost ran to him, 'Callan, you're back. How did the trip go?' I could hear the anxiety in her voice from where I was sitting. When he first looked up, I wondered if he'd heard it too, but then he just looked irritated.

'Shut up,' his voice like his eyes was cold, 'and do your top button up, you look like a slut.'

I forced myself to look away. I realised that I could, if I was cautious, watch his reflection in a mirrored panel running along the back of some of the booths. I looked at him again. He was short, for a guy particularly. He was about the same height as Suzi although she might even have had the edge on him. His hair was lighter than Sam's; a sort of dull mid-brown, mid length but lank and lifeless. His eyes were brown and cold behind wire-framed glasses. He was the kind of guy you could walk past in the street a hundred times a day and never notice. Apart from the coldness of his eyes, he was non-descript, nothing special. Suzi had left him gone to fetch his order and he settled back. His eyes were wandering round taking in the rest of the diner's occupants; I looked at my meal forcing myself to eat while he looked this way.

I risked a glance in the mirror and saw he was still looking in my direction. I looked back down at the food in front of me and tried to keep calm and focussed. I tried to breathe slowly, tried to think back to Sam's voice – in, out, in, out. I couldn't let the panic take over here, I looked up he was still staring in my direction. Eye contact. I looked at him hard, unflinching, unafraid, then looked away as if I wasn't interested any longer. Not afraid, in truth I wasn't or not for me anyway but I was worried what he could do to Suzi before we would be able to stop him.

'Suzanne.' His voice barked across the crowded diner. I looked up as she crossed to him. It wasn't lost on me that the name she had discarded in an attempt to put behind her the events of her childhood, was the name he used for her.

'Sorry.' I watched her and didn't think she even realised that she started by apologizing. It had probably become instinctual.

'That guy, what's he doing?'

'W-which guy?' she sounded petrified, I was looking at my food again, but I could only assume he was asking about me from her voice. I was trying to work out why he was asking about me, I hadn't done anything that should have drawn his attention to me.

'Don't play stupid. Him. Where's he from? Why'd he stop here?'

'I don't know Callan. I – I've not spoken to him, Mandy's waited that table.'

'Tell her to come here.'

'Callan, she's busy, she…'

'Tell her now.' Suzi turned away slowly until his voice snapped, 'Suzanne!' when she moved to fetch the other waitress with more haste.

Mandy approached his table, 'What do you want, Callan?' She sounded irritated, 'I'm not interested in any of your melodramatic mind games.'

'No need to be like that Mandy. You need to be civil if you expect a tip.'

'I don't want anything from you, so what do you want Callan?'

'Who's he?' I could see in the mirror as he nodded in my direction.

'No idea, stranger passing through. What's it to you?'

'What you didn't ask? I don't believe you? Aren't you supposed to make nice with the customers?'

'What's it to you?' she sounded royally pissed off with him.

He grasped her wrist, 'Just answer the goddamn question, girl.'

'I don't know who he is. All he said was he was passing through. Not stopping. So you want to know anything else, go ask him yourself.' She tried to pull her wrist free.

'Callan,' Suzi's hand was on his arm, 'Leave her.'

He shook her arm off, 'Where's my food?'

'S-sorry, I-I'll just get it.'

'You do that.'

Suzi quickly reappeared with his order as Mandy gave them both a look of disgust before she walked away.

The rest of Suzi's shift passed without public incident. I kept a low profile and was discrete in my observations as he kept looking my way.

It was almost time for Suzi's shift to finish so I caught Mandy's eye to ask for the check. I saw Suzi head out back, hands already undoing her apron. Mandy headed after her. The kitchen door closed behind them and the sound of raised voices could be heard through the door although the actual words couldn't be made out.

It didn't last long before Mandy reappeared banging the door behind her. She didn't look back just headed for the serving hatch picking up the next order and taking it to the waiting customers. Suzi came through the door just after, a look of chagrin on her face which changed to defiant determination as she stepped forward into the main area where he awaited her. He was already standing and as she rounded the edge of the counter, he took hold of her upper arm and almost pushed her out of the diner.

I looked through the window and saw them head off into the distance. Considering his height, it is amazing how 'unnoticeable' Sam can become. I mean I knew he was out there, ready to follow Suzi, and I only just managed to spot him as he set off.

Mandy appeared with my check and her face was no more relaxed that it was when she exited the kitchen. 'Problems?' I wondered what her response to my question would be.

'What? Sorry?'

'Raised voices…' I nodded towards the kitchen, 'No smiles.'

'Oh kids, you know. Get themselves into trouble and are too stubborn to accept help. Just hope she learns before it's too late, he's a nasty piece that one.'

'She will,' I said with certainty, 'She'll be okay.'

She gave me a wry smile as if to say '_what do you know about it?'_ but only replied 'I hope you're right.'

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	11. Bloody Bunnies and Exorcisms

**_As Close as Family

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_****__**

**_Disclaimer: _**see chapter 1

**_Summary: _** see chapter 1

**_Warnings/Ratings:_** see chapter 1

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**_Author's Note: _**Thanks as ever to Rae Artemis for encouragement and advice and everything ...

**_Author's Note 2: _**Reviews continue to be welcomed**_

* * *

Chapter 11 – Bloody bunnies and exorcisms_**

So we'd staked out the clearing. It was strange being there without Sam, I've become so used to him being there by my side again, I miss him but there isn't anyone I would trust more to watch over Suzi. Even as a kid, he wouldn't have let anything truly evil harm her, other kids were a different matter then, but they've both grown up now.

I knew where Bobby and Jordan were or I hoped I did because I couldn't see them from where I was hidden.

The plan was to wait. We'd wait until Callan and the others were there and starting their rituals. From what we'd worked out, the demon had possessed some guy who didn't live in that town but just used to turn up when they were sacrificing to him. Suzi said he always entered from the same side so Bobby hid near there to block any attempt at escape.

Suzi had recounted the night Selena had died: they'd made their usual sacrifices, then the guy had turned up and he had led the way when it came to her death. We figured it would be the same again.

And so we waited…

I'd been there about an hour and a half when the first people wandered in and began setting up for the evening. Over the next half hour the clearing gradually filled, then Callan, Suzi and three others entered and a hush fell over the congregated people. From Bobby's and Suzi's descriptions, I could identify these three – Luke, Leanne and Danielle. Leanne, looked to be in a similar state to Suzi, bruises, stitches and bandages abounded on the visible parts of her body and she walked favouring one leg, although it wasn't an all-out limp, more of a wince as she walked.

Things started to move along more quickly at that point. Danielle looked petrified, justifiably so I admit, she obviously had no idea who these people were or why they'd brought her here.

Luke moved over to the altar area and placed something on there although I couldn't see exactly what. I found out later it was a bag with rabbits in, their initial sacrifice, the warm-up act you might say. Meanwhile, Callan had taken hold of a rope from Luke, it appeared that despite her fear, Danielle had not been going willingly with them and they had tied her hands together. Just behind and to either side of her are Leanne and Suzi. He dragged her to the centre of the clearing and everybody turned to look at them as the two girls went too. There appeared to be some sort of altercation between Callan and the two girls, he lashed out at Suzi and I tensed ready to leap, it may not have been part of the plan, but there was only so much I could have watched before I would have had to step in.

Suzi and Leanne appeared to have reached an agreement and both stepped back and sit down, just away but still one to either side of Danielle. I wondered whether it was the fear in Danielle's face, or just her petite stature, but she looked so much younger than the other two. It might even have been the amount the other two have been through, aging them faster than they deserve. They were amazing girls, and that night they had obviously agreed in their own way to try to protect Danielle to the best of their ability.

Callan started to speak and the others in the clearing drew closer to him and then to the altar where Luke had drawn out a huge knife with elaborate markings on it. He held up the first rabbit over the altar and as Callan's voice rose in some sort of ritualistic formula, he slashed its throat. Blood spurted out over the altar in a crimson fountain, Luke and two other men dipped their hands into the blood and each began to mark another with symbols drawn in blood on their skin, Luke turned and made the same marks on Callan. Callan spoke again and with that Luke slaughtered a second rabbit, and the same marks were now drawn on a further round of people. This continued until the only person left unmarked was Danielle. As the last rabbit was drawn from the bag, another figure entered the clearing. This was the demon.

With his entrance, the flames from the fire leapt higher, then slumped back as a chill descended. All the people, bar Callan, Luke and the restrained Danielle fell to their knees – some in horror, some in worship. As his eyes settled on Danielle, a sinister smile settled on his features and he moved forward. As he reached them, he nodded to Luke who slashed the final rabbit, he held his hands out as the creature bled, catching the blood in his hands and bringing it up towards Danielle's mouth. She tried to back away and I could take no more, I left my hiding place and entered the fray.

As I entered the clearing, I realised that Bobby and Jordan had reached the same decision and were also closing in. The only person I couldn't see was Sam. I had to rely on him knowing what he was doing, at that point I had to trust that Sam was okay, I had to get the girls out first before I could worry about him. Much as I have always put myself in danger before Sam, I've always known he can take care of himself, so when the crunch comes on nights like this, I can focus on those who are truly defenceless. Bobby was already reciting the exorcism as he entered blocking the demon's exit, '_Crux sancta sit mihi lux'._

I went straight for the centre of the clearing, aiming to disable as many as possible on my way to Callan, Jordan seemed to have decided on the same course of action from his direction – as much damage to as many threatening people as possible as quickly as was feasible. '_Non draco sit mihi dux' _Bobby's voice was still going strong.

The guys were not much for fighting, picking on girls was obviously the limit for most of them, only a couple put up any real resistance, Jordan dealt with them. By that stage, the demon was looking distracted from his enjoyment of the rabbit's blood and his torment of Danielle. '_Vade retro satana'_

The demon turned to face Bobby; I could see the fury evident in his features as I headed for Callan and Danielle. I saw him draw back his hand and swing at Bobby as he said the words '_Nunquam suade mihi vana'_ before the hand struck and knocked him backwards.

Panic flared in my mind, if Bobby was out of the game, we needed Sam and I still hadn't seen him. That was when I heard his voice, '_Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde,' _I hadn't realized how worried I was about Sam until the relief hit when I heard his voice

Bobby had regained his feet and carried on his chant, '_Sunt mala quae libas'_. All of a sudden the demon didn't seem to know who was the greater threat, Bobby or Sam.

It was the distraction they needed to be able to continue, Sam's voice was unrelenting, _'__in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in nomine Jesu Christi Filii ejus'. _

I focused again on Callan, Luke and Danielle. Callan was holding her in front of him, like some form of defence, a wall through which we couldn't hurt him. I couldn't stand for that, it didn't matter how much I wanted him to suffer, how much I wanted him to pay for what he had done to these girls, to Suzi, I couldn't allow him to use Danielle and to risk her life. I focused again on Sam, _'Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti'._

I changed the focus of my hearing and listened as Bobby finished his chant, '_Ipse venena bibas'_. I spared him a brief glance. As his eyes flicked to mine, I nodded towards Danielle and raised my gun. He watched and at the right moment shouted, 'Danielle! Drop!', she did as he said, I shot one bullet. It did exactly as I intended. The hole was dead centre between the eyes and as he hit the floor, the back of his head was already long gone. It wasn't enough pain and suffering for what he deserved but it had saved Danielle further torment and in that I had had no choice.

I didn't move to help Danielle; instead I turned to find Luke. Sam's voice continued,'_ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est'_. I moved towards Luke, gun still raised and saw his eyes lock with mine.

I didn't flinch, just slowly tightened my finger on the trigger, I barely heard his 'Please, no.' before the retort from the gun echoed round the clearing. I stepped forward and took Danielle by the arms to lift her back to her feet.

Sam continued on, _'ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo.' _I didn't spare a thought for the demon, I turned back to the humans, the cankerous evil this town had spawned, we were going to finish it. The girls were getting out of here for good. Jordan had seen to the majority of the problems and Suzi and Leanne were rounding up the girls, drawing the ones they knew wanted out to them and away from the others. The few who had fought them were already subdued. For the first time, I wondered what the hell we were going to do with them.

'_Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem.'_ I recognized the end of Sam's exorcism in time to shield my eyes and ears from the demon's parting from the body of the man it had been using. The body slumped to the floor, broken and bloody, and above all else, empty. It was dead, how long dead, I couldn't have said, but nonetheless, gone.

Relief washed over me, the dead guys were the bad guys, and apart from a few cuts and bruises, Jordan and I would be fine, Bobby was going to have a few bruises and lumps from the demon's hit. The girls were going to leave with no more bruises than they had arrived with. Only one problem remained, the captured girls who were there by choice.

We stood still, as calm settled back over the clearing, the only sound a few muted sobs from some of the girls. A moment passed, then another, then reality dawned and the need to finish what we had started returned. It seemed as if the four of us were hit at the same time with the need to finish and get out of there. Bobby moved to take Danielle into his arms as Suzi moved to my side. She looked up at me briefly, then her eyes hit the floor. I waited, she didn't look up again and she didn't come any closer. Sam and Jordan moved to the other girls, I saw them begin to check for injuries, no one looked at the girls who were tied up. None of us was ready to deal with them; we didn't want to face what it was going to be necessary to do. There was no other way but it could wait until we'd got the innocents away.

I looked back at Suzi, her eyes still firmly looking at her feet. 'They're still there babe, those feet aren't going anywhere without the rest of you.' she didn't look up as I spoke. 'Suzi?'

She took a step back, away from me. I reached my hand out to halt her retreat. She twisted away from me and as she did, I saw the silent tears coursing down her face. I didn't wait any longer; she wasn't going to come to me so instead I stepped forward and took her into my arms. Her body was tense and rigid, she tried to struggle away and I just held tighter until she finally relaxed and I could feel her tears still flowing, soaking through my t-shirt. We stood there until, 'Dean…I'm sorry…' she murmured into my chest.

'Sssh! Suzi Q, you did good, we're fine. We'll talk later, come on. I need you to round up the girls we need to get out of here, split them into groups, who we can take with us.'

She drew back, nodded and whispered 'sorry' before setting off to help the others. I made a promise then to her, one she didn't need to hear before I would carry it out. We were going to take her back to Max and Jason but before we did, I was going to make sure that she didn't start everything she said with 'Sorry'. I was going to find the real Suzi inside, the one we knew, the one they knew.

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Author's Note 1: The words spoken by Bobby translate approximately as:

_"May the Holy Cross be my light_

_Let not the dragon lead me _

_Step back Satan _

_Never tempt me with vain things _

_What you offer me is evil _

_Drink the poison yourself." _

The reference was found on Wikipedia.

Sam's exorcism ritual translates approximately as:

"_I exorcise thee, every unclean spirit, in the name of God the Father Almighty, and in the name of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord and Judge, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, that thou depart from this creature of God, which our Lord hath designed to call unto His holy temple, that it may be made the temple of the living God, and that the Holy Spirit may dwell therein. Through the same Christ our Lord, who shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world by fire." "_

And the references were found at logoschristian dot org


	12. Dealing with the Aftermath

_**As Close as Family

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**_

****

_**Disclaimer: **_see chapter 1

_**Summary: **_ see chapter 1

_**Warnings/Ratings:**_ see chapter 1

* * *

_**Author's Note: **_As ever I thank Rae Artemis for her support and for putting up with having to help me draft and re-draft and my moans about it not being any good! For you, there will eventually be an ending! (Right now, you know what's holding the writing of it up!)

_**Author's Note 2:**_As ever I would appreciate any reviews. Thanks toanyone who does.

* * *

**_Chapter 12 – Dealing with the Aftermath_**

There were five girls who needed… wanted out, as well as Suzi, Leanne and Danielle. It made me realise just how much of a mission this had been and exactly how much Callan had known about what had gone on those sixteen years ago. He'd managed to get eight girls, who had hoped that those childhood nightmares had been laid to rest for good, eight girls, who would now live forever with the terrifying thought that any new friend might have come for them to drag them back to this.

There were three other girls, girls who didn't seem to want out, girls, whose stream of invective was steady. These girls weren't backing down, even with the death of the men and the demise of the demon, they weren't changing their opinions, these girls did not seem to be blindly following in the hope of protection if they did as asked, these girls were angry at the loss of the demon.

The grim reality we were faced with was that if we let these girls go, the police would be after us straight away for the murder of the men in the clearing. They could give clear descriptions, they knew enough about the girls we would be taking to make them easily traceable if we took any of them home. We tried to figure out a way to call the police in, claim that we had killed the now dead men to rescue the girls. The problem was we were going to be in trouble no matter what, because we had clearly gone in knowing what was happening, armed and ready for substantial amounts of trouble, the police were not going to accept that we had happened across this little ritual. Those girls were going to contradict anything we said but even worse, they would hunt out a way to continue what had been started here, they would find another group to join and the information they now had about the other eight girls would mean there would never be any safe haven for the innocents.

It was a dire fact that we would have to kill those girls as well, for there to be any safety for the eight we were saving. An unspoken agreement passed between us, Jordan and I would do it, Sam and Bobby would stay with the other girls. Jordan and I went over to the three girls, grabbed their tied hands and led them back to the altar where we tied them. It was the easiest thing to secure them to. Then we turned to help Bobby and Sam get the other girls away. We split them into three groups, Danielle and 2 others would go with Bobby, three would go with Jordan, Sam and I would take Suzi and Leanne. Bobby and Jordan's trucks were parked close together so they took off in one direction; the Impala was parked in the opposite direction so Sam and I took Suzi and Leanne down that way.

Sam took care of Leanne, helped her maintain her balance as the pain from her injured leg seemed to be intensifying, she gradually leant into him for support and I heard his gentle encouragement keeping her going.

I walked alongside Suzi. With the girls sorted and the responsibility I had placed on her gone, she had retreated back into a shell. It reminded me of when I first found her, except this time the shell was even harder and for the first time ever, she didn't seem to want to let me in. Each time I moved to put a hand out towards her, she stepped sideways away from me.

We were about five minutes away from the car, when I decided I had to put a stop to this, 'Sam, Leanne, keep going, we just need a couple of minutes. We'll catch you up.'

Sam looked my way, glanced at Suzi and nodded, 'Fine. Leanne and I will meet you at the car.'

'No,' Suzi's voice was horrified. 'No, Dean, please, no.'

I stepped in front of her, halting her progress. She tried to sidestep me, but I blocked her again and then put my arms out and stopped her movement. 'No, please…'

I could hear the anguish in her voice but knew I had to be strong, before Callan had actually won for good. 'Suzi, stop. Sit down.' I pushed her to the ground. As she slumped, folding in trying to make herself as small as possible, I sat beside her, keeping a hold.

'Sorry, I'm sorry…'

'Stop.'

She fell silent, I waited. She didn't move her body at all and not another sound passed her lips. She was rigid. The only movement was her eyes which slid from one thing to another, never resting and doggedly avoiding me.

'This has to stop Suzi.'

The litany of apology began again, 'sorry, Dean, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…'

'Stop. No more. Look at me… properly.' I grasped her chin and turned her head to look at me. Her eyes slid away again. 'Suzi, look.' It was slow and reluctant but eventually her eyes reached mine. 'Now, don't look away, just listen and keep looking.'

I saw her flinch and swallow as if I was asking the impossible. 'You are Suzi, our Suzi Q. You have nothing to be sorry for. You are not going to apologise to me or to Sam for anything. You didn't do anything wrong.'

'My fault. You're hurt, Bobby's hurt, Danielle…'

'No. I'm not hurt; I've just got a couple of bruises from a fight, that's not hurt. Bobby's fine, just a bump, Sam's checked, and you didn't do it, the demon did it. Danielle you saved and those other girls. You saved them. Your strength, your observations, you making sure that we knew everything – you saved everyone getting hurt a lot worse. We needed to be here, we needed to sort this. You let us do that. If you weren't here, those girls would have been dead until it was your turn and they'd come for you then. You've done nothing wrong. Do you hear what I'm telling you?'

'Dean?'

'Nothing wrong, Suzi.'

'I was stupid. It's how I ended up here.'

'Maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't make this your fault. As I see it the only thing you did wrong was to not stay in touch, with Max and Jason and with me, but that's youth not something that led to this. Sam did it too when he went to Stanford, left me behind, didn't stay in touch, he was lucky, nothing went wrong. It wasn't until I'd got back in touch that trouble hit him, maybe because I'd got back in touch but I was there, I could help. You need to remember that you have people who care and you don't need to apologise for this.'

'I-I'm sor...'

'No, stop no more. You don't say those words, not about this. I don't want to hear them again. This is not you.' I watched as the tears began to fall and drew her in to my embrace. She shuddered and remained tense. I held tighter and finally, finally felt the tension ease a fraction.

'Dean,' it's barely more than a whisper, 'Dean, I want to go home.' I feel relief wash over me; two achievements, no sorry and a desire to be back where she belongs, where she can be safer 'Dean, I want to go home but…'

'But what?' My voice was quiet barely louder than hers.

'I'm sorr…' I pressed my finger to her lips to stop the apology. Her eyes were sad.

'No apologies, just tell me.'

'I want to go home but what if they'd don't want me anymore?'

'Trust me, they will want you.'

'What if they can't forgive me? What if I'm evil now? What if they're going to keep coming after me? What if…?' I could hear the edge of panic to her voice, it cut into me, it shouldn't have been like this for her, she has always deserved better.

'Okay, one at a time. First they will forgive you, they'll forgive you for trying out College because there was nothing to forgive in that, they were proud of you. They'll want you to try again, if that's what you want. They will forgive you for not keeping in touch because you've come back to them and next time, you won't make that mistake because you know you want your family. The second question, you are not evil. You never have been, that was half the point. No point in sacrificing something evil, go for something pure and light, something like you, someone good. The third question, if they keep coming after you, I don't know if they will, maybe you've just been really unlucky so far and it will never happen again. But what you can do is stay in touch, with me, Sam, Max and Jason, Leanne and the others, keep one another safe, talk to one another. You know some of what to look out for, just be cautious and remember to ask for help if you have any doubts.'

'I didn't want any of this to happen, Dean.' It is a simple statement of fact, filled with such heartbreak.

'No, I know. I wish it hadn't but we've put it right now.'

'I'm s…' she stops herself.

'Remember, plenty of people care about you, love you, want you to be well and safe.'

'Dean, I don't want them to see me, not like this.'

'Suzi, it's okay.'

'Please…'

'Sure, we won't rush the journey to take you home, give some of these a chance to heal,' I indicate the bruises, 'but I am going to take you home. It's time.'

She nodded. I stood up and brought her up and we began the walk to join the others at the car, I didn't let go of her the whole way. She didn't try to pull away. When we reached the car, I left her with Sam and Leanne and made the excuse that I needed to check over the clearing, make sure we hadn't left anything that could lead back to us. Sam knew but said nothing.

I walked back up, dreading it. Knowing it was necessary wasn't going to make it any easier, they were girls and this was cold-blood, not the heat of the hunt or to save someone's life.

I got there at the same time as Jordan, and saw in his face the same feelings I was having. We nodded and drew guns as we moved to the altar, only to be stunned by what we saw.

The girls were no longer tied to the altar; they were also no longer moving, no longer alive. It didn't take long to piece together what had happened. In moving them to the altar, we had put them near to where Luke had fallen; somehow they had managed to reach his knife and had cut their ties. The three of them had then in turns slashed their wrists with the knife, joining the rest of their group in death.

'Can't say I'm sorry,' said Jordan. I looked up at him in surprise and saw relief in his eyes, relief that he and I weren't going to have to do it. 'Helps us out some too I think.'

'What do you mean?'

'Your gun traceable?' I shook my head. 'Good, nor's mine. Everyone here has died either by your gun, mine or that knife.' He pointed at Luke's knife, where it is held in the hand of one of the dead girls. I nodded; I'd got no idea what to say. 'So we clean our prints, leave the guns and it looks like this was a merry little band who did themselves in, some weird suicide pact or maybe the girls were into some weird shit, no outsiders needed to blame.' It was all I could do to nod again, as the relief that I saw in his face washed over me. 'We should all head out of town straight away. Meet up where we agreed. One night there and then we separate.' I nod. 'Dean. You and Sam, you're young still, but that plan was good, it worked. I know your Dad well enough to know the two of you probably didn't get the praise part of parenting so much. Remember this, have faith. We've been lucky, there should have been no easy way out of this,' he indicated the dead girls, 'Lucky. But the plan was sound, it worked, that was down to you two. Now we should go' and with that he gave me a push back towards the path to the Impala.

I just kept going, I hadn't said a thing. He'd taken the gun and I'd walked, trusting him to clean the prints and leave the guns.

I got back to the car, Sam was already in the driver's seat and the girls were in the back. I climbed in, 'Go, Sam' and leant down to the glove compartment, I retrieved my sunglasses, put them on and leant back. Sam knew where we were heading; he didn't need me for the moment.

* * *


End file.
